• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.557-561
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• 2007

Polypropylene (PP)/corn starch master batch (starch-MB) blends with different PP compositions of 40, 50, 60, and 80 wt% were prepared by melt compounding at $200^{\circ}C$, using lab scale Brabender mixer. The chemical structures and thermal properties of the PP/starch-MB blends were investigated by FT-IR, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The chemical structure was confirmed by the existence of hydroxy group. There was no district change in melting temperature and melting enthalpy, and TGA curve indicated a decrease in degradation temperature with starch-MB content. The porosity change of blend was measured by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the degree of porosity on the blend surface increased with the starch-MB content. The rheological properties indicated an increase in complex viscosity, shear thinning tendency and elasticity with the starch-MB concentration. These effects were confirmed by an oscillatory viscometer at $200^{\circ}C$. From these results, it is found that 40 wt% is the optimum starch-MB concentration. The fiber was fabricated from PP60/MB40 with 40 wt% starch-MB and the porosity and tensile properties were investigated.

• Carbon letters
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.279-284
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• 2010

Graphene is one of the most promising materials for many applications. It can be used in a variety of applications not only as a reinforcement material for polymer to obtain a combination of desirable mechanical, electrical, thermal, and barrier properties in the resulting nanocomposite but also as a component in energy storage, fuel cells, solar cells, sensors, and batteries. Recent research at Michigan State University has shown that it is possible to exfoliate natural graphite into graphite nanoplatelets composed entirely of stacks of graphene. The size of the platelets can be controlled from less than 10 nm in thickness and diameters of any size from sub-micron to 15 microns or greater. In this study we have investigated the influence of melt compounding processing on the physical properties of a polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposite reinforced with exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP). The morphology, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties of xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite were characterized with electrical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, AC impedance, and mechanical properties. It was found that counter rotation (CNR) twins crew processed xGnP/PA6 nanocomposite had similar mechanical properties with co-rotation (CoR) twin screw processed or with CoR conducted with a screw design modified for nanoparticles (MCoR). Microscopy showed that the CNR processed nanocomposite had better xGnP dispersion than the (CoR) twin screw processed and modified screw (MCoR) processed ones. It was also found that the CNR processed nanocomposite at a given xGnP content showed the lowest graphite X-ray diffraction peak at $26.5^{\circ}$ indicating better xGnP dispersion in the nanocomposite. In addition, it was also found that the electrical conductivity of the CNR processed 12 wt.% xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite is more than ten times higher than the CoR and MCoR processed ones. These results indicate that better dispersion of an xGnP-PA6 nanocomposite is attainable in CNR twins crew processing than conventional CoR processing.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.106-111
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• 2008

Polypropylene (PP)/corn starch master batch (starch-MB)/silicate composites with different corn starch compositions of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 were prepared by melt compounding at $200^{\circ}C$, using lab scale Brabender mixer. The content of silicate was fixed at 5 wt%. The composition of starch-MB in composites was confirmed by the existence of hydroxy group and peak intensity in fourier-transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectrum. The thermal properties of the PP/starch-MB/silicate composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). There was no district change in melting temperature, and TGA curve indicates a decrease in degradation temperature with the increase of starch-MB content. The silicate dispersion of the composites was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The degree of silicate dispersion in PP/starch-MB/silicate composites depended on the content of starch-MB. There was detectable change in d-spacing and peak intensity of the composite when the content of starch-MB was higher than 20 wt%. The rheological behavior of the composites was explained by both shear thinning effect and elastic property with the starch-MB amount. These effects were remarkable when the content of starch-MB was higher than 20 wt%. These were confirmed by an oscillatory viscometer at $200^{\circ}C$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2014

Nanocomposites based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/(PVDF) blended with carbon fibers (CF) and carbon nanotube (CNT) were prepared by melt mixing in the twin screw extruder. Morphologies of the PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT and PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites were investigated using SEM. The aggregation of CNT was observed in PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites while the good dispersion of CNT was shown in PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites. In SEM image of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposite, the CNT were mainly located at the PET domain of phase-separated PET/PVDF blend due to the ${\pi}-{\pi}$ interaction between the phenyl ring of PET and graphite sheet of the CNT's surface. In addition, a fairly good compatibility between PET/PVDF matrix and CF was shown in the SEM image. In the case of PET/PVDF nanocomposites blended with the co-addition of CF and CNT, the volume electrical resistivity decreased while no change was observed in PMMA/PVDF/CF/CNT composites. The degree of CNT dispersion in morphology results was consistent with the electrical conductivity results. From the DSC results, the crystallization temperature (Tc) of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT nanocomposites increased due to the co-addition of CF and CNTs acting as a nucleating agent. Flexural modulus of PET/PVDF/CF/CNT were sharply enhanced due to increasing the interaction between PET and CF.